McKINNEY — Dallas’ Jordan Spieth was poised for one of the best rounds of his life.

But his putter was just not that into it.

Since the putter usually has the last word, Spieth shot 1-under 71 on Tuesday in the first round at second-stage PGA Tour Qualifying at the TPC at Craig Ranch.

Plano’s Matt Weibring, grouped with Spieth, had the opposite scenario working. He struggled with his ball-striking early, so he leaned on his putter to shoot 68.

Australians Matt Jones and Nathan Green, who has a home at Craig Ranch, tied for the lead with 66s.

Spieth, 19, hit 16 greens in regulation. His iron shots were so pure that he had 13 putts inside 15 feet. But he made only four of those.

“If I would have been putting well, it would have been a career round,” Spieth said. “I could feel it standing over the ball, but I couldn’t capitalize. It’s just tough.”

Spieth bogeyed the first hole and then missed a 10-footer for birdie on 6.

He bogeyed the par-3 seventh, missing a five-foot putt for par.

At 2 over, Spieth rebounded with a birdie from 12 feet on No. 8 and an eagle on the par-5 No. 9 from about 15 feet.

“I’m kinda rolling with it,” Spieth said. “The back nine sometimes plays easier than the front, and I know there are a lot of birdie holes if I play them correctly. I felt like I just needed to make some putts.”

He made a five-foot putt on No. 10 to save par but then bogeyed 11 and missed a 10-footer for birdie on 12. On the difficult uphill par-5 No. 13, Spieth almost didn’t need his putter, hitting to five feet. He made that for birdie.

On 14, he missed another 10-footer for birdie, and then on the par-3 15th, he almost holed out again. His 5-iron shot landed about five feet past the hole and then he missed the downhill birdie putt. His final birdie miss was from about 10 feet on No. 17.

“It’s one of those rounds where you walk off each green frustrated because you feel you deserved a stroke better,” Spieth said. “That happens sometimes. But I hit it well enough to shoot under par.”

The contrasting days of Spieth and Weibring was best represented on 15.

Before Spieth could miss from five feet, Weibring was fortunate he had enough club on the uphill 50-foot putt that he drained.

Weibring was locked in survival mode early. He hit his second shot over the green on the par-5 No. 5, but managed to birdie with a chip and putt. He one-putted No. 8 from about 15 feet. A poor drive on No. 9 forced him to lay up and then he three-putted for bogey.

“I just kept it in play early,” Weibring said. “I wasn’t striking it as solidly as I’d like, but it was cold and windy.”

With the rest of his game coming around, Weibring had a clean card on the back nine, making birdies on 12 and 13 before the long one on 15.

“It’s a marathon,” Weibring said. “I don’t even look at the boards because it doesn’t help. It just puts more pressure on you.”

Weibring and Spieth are headed for the same destination. Both agree that, regardless of how it’s done, the key is managing your game. You don’t have to win to advance. The top 25 or so will move on to the final stage of qualifying beginning Nov. 28 at Palm Springs, Calif.

Even so, after signing his card, Spieth punished his putter by forcing it to practice for an hour in the cold.

“Hopefully, I got it figured out,” he said. “I’ll just try and make that my worst score out of the four. If I can do that, I’ll be all right.”